Ferrari driver’s unfinished business: F1 grid comeback dream revealed

During a year on the sidelines, Zhou Guanyu has vowed his quest to return to the F1 grid isn’t over as his time at Ferrari has only made him stronger.

After a three-year stint with Sauber, Zhou couldn’t secure a race seat for F1 2025 and, instead, turned to Ferrari to become reserve driver for the Scuderia, having been a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy between 2014 and ’18.

Zhou Guanyu: It’s important to stay in the F1 paddock

With Sauber evolving into the Audi squad for F1 2026, both Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas lost their seats at the Swiss team as Audi signed Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto with an eye to the future.

Both Zhou and Bottas, who became friends through a harmonious three years at Sauber, found themselves seeking new homes, and both found refuge at prior homes: Bottas turning to Mercedes to become reserve driver, and Zhou turning to Ferrari to take up the same role.

There was even the possibility of a straightforward reunion at the new Cadillac team for F1 2026, with Bottas’ experience making him an attractive proposition for the Graeme Lowdon-based squad. Zhou, who had compared favourably against Bottas during their time together, is managed by Lowdon, but was beaten to the second seat by the returning Sergio Perez; a driver with over a decade’s experience and first-hand knowledge of a world championship-winning team after his years with Red Bull.

With precious few seats left to be confirmed for F1 2026, and Zhou not significantly linked with any of them, a comeback for next year appears unlikely, but the Chinese driver is nowhere near the point of relinquishing his dream of returning to the grid.

Indeed, drivers such as Bottas and Perez, as well as Nico Hulkenberg’s lengthy three years out, are giving Zhou plenty of hope that the time he’s putting in with Ferrari in widening his skillset will stand to him when opportunities arise.

“I think it’s very important to work with different people, different teams, so they understand your abilities,” Zhou told PlanetF1.com in an exclusive interview.

“When I came here [to Ferrari], a lot of people didn’t know the driver I was, and the engineers are quite positive with all the feedback and the stuff I was able to bring, feedback with data, analysing, all of that.

“I think it’s important just to stay in the paddock, but let more people understand the driver you are, because sometimes when you obviously stay in the same team for three years, coming straight from F2, probably only the people working with you understand how you are, but then you need to kind of let the whole paddock understand, to give you a big opportunity.

“That’s what I’m here for. I still feel like there are opportunities.

“We’re speaking to people, and we’re trying to understand what are the opportunities. I’m focused on the role I’m doing with Ferrari, but then it’s just to let other people understand the door is always open when they need me, and that’s it.

“Obviously, I think this year or next year are the big two years, especially next year, when there’s new regulation changes. But then there are a lot of drivers that will be a question mark for their future as well. So that’s where I think the opportunities will come.

“But right now, I’m just happy where I am. Obviously, I would love to be back on the grid for next year. But, if not, I will just continue waiting for another year and see what happens.

“People know what I can do. Certain things didn’t go to plan for the seat I was probably fighting for. But then, in general, I think people understand what I can do and understand I’m available. Different teams want a different kind of driver for them, and it’s not up to me who can decide.

“There are a lot of reserve drivers, or there are drivers available for each programme, so it’s up to them who they choose. But for me, I’m just together with the Ferrari team, and understanding if there are any opportunities.”

Zhou Guanyu: 2026 experience and ‘unfinished business’

Through his work with Ferrari,  Zhou has spent plenty of time in the simulator driving the 2026 iteration of the car, allowing him the opportunity to get to grips with an ever-evolving driving model for the new regulation set.

Alongside that, Zhou has kept his driving sharp by carrying out a Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) programme with Ferrari, in which he has been let loose in the SF-23, as well as carrying out a Pirelli test in the SF-25 in June.

This relevant knowledge and experience with the new regulations means he’s feeling sharp and ready if an opportunity does arise for him.

“TPC is very important, and I think you learn a lot through TPC,” he said.

“Because when you are just driving the simulator at the beginning but then, until you jump in the car, you don’t understand what’s different.

“Every team has probably a different percentage of difference between the real car and the simulator. Where I feel like, here now, we’re already building up from the beginning of the year to now being a step up simulation wise, it’s been good, and I’m quite happy with the feedback I was able to get between the sim and car testing for ’26.

“I started already, I think, in the first week of March, I was starting doing ’26 cars.

“I’ve been doing multiple sessions every month, every week so it’s good for that, because you understand the regulations first and how the car is, and you understand what you need to make the car go faster in next two years.”

Zhou also pointed to how the stability of working at Ferrari is in stark contrast to his time at Sauber, where he felt he’d hit a “brick wall” as constant changes in personnel deflected from his comfort behind the wheel.

With no obvious route back onto the grid at present, Zhou said he doesn’t feel his three years at Sauber are quite enough for him, and that he would embrace another opportunity to showcase how he’s grown as a driver. It’s left him with unfinished business in F1.

“I’m happy I was able to already complete three season in Formula 1,” he said. “But I’m not so happy with how, the last year, I’ve been pretty much treated from that perspective, because, obviously, I think there were too many changes in the background, and that doesn’t really give me that opportunity to be able to control my crew and my people.

“People floating around and making changes like a race engineer, which really makes the difference. The first year was good, and the car was competitive.

“But then there were a lot of technical issues on my side with the cooling system. Second year together, it was a very decent year. I think every year I was catching up the points difference together with Valtteri. He is very good, especially in one lap pace.

“I learned a lot. I improved a lot. But just, the last year, even though I scored only points, I just feel like the season with the car we had, it was just so difficult to do anything.

“I would love to have another opportunity in a season that I can definitely put things around me a lot more.”

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